December 19, 2010
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
|
2010 may be remembered for a lot of things in the NASCAR world, but, if you ask me, the racing was by far some of the best in recent history. We had battles on the track, tight finishes, and surprise winners -- all which lead to entertaining and interesting racing.
Last weekend, I took a look at the drivers who made an impression during the 2010 season. This week, I look at the races that left a mark on my memory.
The Daytona 500 is always an impressive way to start a season, but this year’s Great American Race was filled with ups and downs that set records, and raised blood pressure, for fans across the country.
One of the biggest up’s seemed to be at the start of the race, when two fan favorites, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Junior, brought the cars to the green flag. The first, and amazingly, largest crash happened on lap eight of the race, taking out a mere six cars. But the crashes weren’t the hardest foe to face over the course of Valentine’s Day -- the track itself was.
Just before the half way mark of the race, a small hole opened up on the track in turn two. The small hole became a large hole, especially when you consider you are racing over it at speeds nearing 200 mph, and the race was halted for close to two hours as crews worked to patch the spot. Once the race was re-started, the cars made it only another 39 laps before the hole re-opened on lap 161, halting the race for another 45 minutes. (Total race delay caused by the pot hole was two hours, 25 minutes, which is just under the usual time spent running the entire race on a good weekend.) The overall race time ended up being close to six hours, one of the longest in history.
As the race wound down, it appeared that Junior might just kick off the 2010 season with a win. Fans in the stands -- and in homes across the country -- were on their feet cheering for the No. 88 car. But two green-white-checkered finishes appeared to be the thorn in Junior’s side as Jamie McMurray came from behind and crossed the finish line first; kicking off what would be a remarkable racing season for the driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops car. A jubilant McMurray did donuts in the infield, got down on his knees and pounded the grass, and then gave a tearful interview in Victory Lane.
Next on the memorable race list is the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Having dealt with a rainy weekend, the race was pushed back to Monday. Racing at Martinsville is always exciting as cars beat and bang their way around the oldest short track on the Sprint Cup schedule. Native Virginian Denny Hamlin fought to stay up front, and remained there for a good part of the day, but a late race caution and a stop for fresh tires had Hamlin re-starting from ninth with four laps to go. A second caution had Hamlin re-starting from fourth under a green-white-checkered, and he passed Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon (after Gordon and Kenseth essentially took each other out in a spat where Gordon admitted that he wasn’t going to let Kenseth win the race) on Lap 507 of 508 to win the race. Later that week, Hamlin underwent knee surgery, and then proceeded to win seven more times and finish second in the point standings.
Racing at Talladega is always memorable, but the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway set NASCAR Sprint Cup Series records for the number of leaders (29) and lead changes (88) in a race -- breaking the previous record of 75 in the 1984 Winston 500. It also proved to be the turning point in what would become a comeback season for Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and driver Kevin Harvick. Rain once again played a part in the make-up of the race, with qualifying having been rained out, allowing Jimmie Johnson to sit on the pole as points leader.
Perhaps one of the most memorable events of the race came not at the finish, but when Johnson made a critical error in judgment. In what he says was an effort to get in front of teammate Jeff Gordon to create a draft, he instead became a moving roadblock, forcing Gordon to drop to the apron and fall back in the pack. Laps later, Gordon was caught up in a multi-car crash, and was furious with his teammate. “The 48 is testing my patience, I can tell you that," Gordon said after the race. "It takes a lot to make me mad."
The race ended with three attempts at a green-white-checkered -- the first time that had happened in the Cup Series. While Jamie McMurray appeared ready to take his second restrictor plate win of the season as Harvick pushed him towards the finish line, it was Harvick, who dropped down and made the pass at the line, beating the No. 1 Chevrolet to the line by .011 seconds. The win broke a 115-race winless streak for the No. 29 car, and was Harvick’s first point’s race victory in the series since the 2007 Daytona 500. At the end of the race, Fox broadcaster Darrel Waltrip called this the “Greatest Talladega Race ever.”
In August at Bristol Motor Speedway, we saw history made when one driver won three races at one track.
Kyle Busch won the Wednesday night Camping World Truck race, the Friday night Nationwide race, and the Saturday night Sprint Cup race, becoming the first driver to win in all three series on one weekend. The feat didn’t come without controversy, however. Late in the Nationwide race, Brad Keselowski tapped Busch’s bumper, moving him out of the way. Busch didn’t take kindly to the move, and a few laps later, came up and wrecked the driver of the 22 car.
“He drove into the back of me and put me in the fence,” explained Busch after the race. “It’s Brad Keselowski, so I wasn’t too happy about it, so I was going to go back after him and spin him out and won the race. Good for me.”
The next day, drivers were allowed to introduce themselves prior to the Cup race. As Busch was booed in pre-race introductions, he sarcastically told the crowd, "Aw, you're so loving." A few moments later, Keselowski was at the microphone. "I'm Brad Keselowski -- Kyle Busch is an ass." That received a thunderous cheer from the crowd.
Keselowski was already on probation for his dust ups with Carl Edwards at Talladega and Gateway, so it was clear he wouldn’t be able to exact revenge. But a new rivalry was born.
Speaking of Gateway International Raceway, it was the end of an era as the final race was held at the St. Louis-area track. The track, which has hosted races for trucks and Busch/Nationwide Series since 1997, closed its doors after the 5-Hour Energy 250 race in October. Dover Motorsports, Inc., which owns the track, announced in July that it would not look to host any sanctioned races next season, and was going to put the track up for sale. It was noted that the track has never made a profit, and with the economy, the way it is, there was no way to justify running races when there was no money being made.
The track didn’t go quietly, however, with the July Nationwide race creating a lot of talk about the “Have at it boys” policy that NASCAR had unleashed earlier in the season. Keselowski, who had led most of the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250, was leading coming to the checkered flag, with Carl Edwards fast approaching. The pair came out of turn four side by side, but Edwards put Keselowski into the wall on the front stretch, leading to a pileup of cars, including Shelby Howard, who had no place to go but into Keselowski’s car at full speed coming to the line. All of the drivers walked away.
As for Edwards, he stated “My guys built me a great car. We came to the checkered flag, and I hate to see stuff tore up, but we came here to win and he took it from us there in Turn 1. Just an awesome race.
“I'm sure some of them don't like that win -- Brad Keselowski fans and stuff -- but, man, I just couldn't let him take it from me. I had to do what I had to do."
That admission landed both Edwards and Keselowski on NASCAR’s probation list.
The Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway was this year’s final race, and the deciding race in the Chase for the Championship.
For the first time since beginning his Championship streak, Jimmie Johnson found himself in second place heading to Homestead, knowing that the Championship had never been won by anyone not leading the points going into the final race.
Johnson entered the race trailing Denny Hamlin by 15 points, with Kevin Harvick still barely in the hunt in third.
Qualifying did not look promising, as Hamlin had a poor run and ended up starting back in the pack in 37th. It wasn’t too much of a cause for concern, however, since that is where Hamlin had begun the 2009 race -- which he ultimately won. However, after a strong start that saw the No. 11 car gaining 18 spots in the first 23 laps, the luck ran out as Hamlin touched the No. 16 car of Greg Biffle and spun into the infield. Though his crew worked feverishly to repair the damage, the incident affected the handling of the No. 11 car just enough to keep
Hamlin from returning to the front of the pack. To add insult to injury, he was trapped a lap down during a cycle of pit stops and had to take a wave-around to the tail end of the lead lap at the next caution flag.
Harvick didn’t fare much better when it appeared he had a chance to defeat Johnson for the title. A pit road speeding penalty forced the No. 29 car to the back of the field, leaving Harvick fuming behind the wheel.
Even Johnson was having issues during the race, as the new pit crew (taken from the No. 24 mid-race two weeks earlier in Texas) repeatedly lost the No. 48 spots on the track during pit stops.
"It was like, 'Who's going to screw up the most?' “commented Johnson’s team owner, Rick Hendrick, about the top three teams’ issues after the race.
In the end, Johnson crossed the finish line second in the race, but first in the points, leading to his fifth consecutive title, and bringing an end to a season which had more excitement than many in years past.
Let’s hope the excitement continues as we move into 2011.
I want to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas, and all the best to you and yours regardless of what holiday season you celebrate!
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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